The notes of Creuza de Mar by Fabrizio De André accompany, as it should, the debut of Bridge over the Polcevera. But, judging by the controversies and the difficulties in settling the extremely tough dispute between the State and Atlantia, perhaps it would have been more appropriate to resort to The bridge over troubled waters by Simon & Garfunkel. The parties, in fact, still remain distant. Yesterday morning the minister Paola De Micheli had to announce that it will not be possible to sign an agreement by Wednesday, as anticipated last week.
“On Wednesday – said the transport manager grappling with the umpteenth mess of the high-speed train – we will define the technical aspects. I don't think the signing will be on Wednesday - explained the Minister - I believe that the system that we are defining in these days, with an important legal difficulty, goes in the direction requested by the families of the victims".
The question of the possible damage caused in Liguria therefore remains complicated, even if it should be emphasized that the agreement with the government already provides for 1,5 billion in compensation for the region.
Above all, however, we are moving in the direction of “of recover many and many resources to develop the motorway network”. That is, to use a metaphor, it is a question of squaring the circle by guaranteeing the manager both a profitability sufficient to attract minority shareholders called to support the new Aspi, which has started the spin-off from Atlantia, slightly down on Piazza Affari, and guarantee, as the minister wishes, "an efficient and good management of the motorways".
This explains why it was not possible to close the agreement before the car of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, crosses the bridge exactly as it did 53 years ago, on 4 September 1967, with the presidential Lancia Flaminia 335 carrying the then president Giuseppe Saragat. Two intricate knots remain: the definition of tariffs and the Pef with the Government e the shareholding agreement with CDP. An Edizione board of directors is also expected for Thursday - the holding company of the Benetton family - probably to discuss/decide on the spin-off of Aspi.
They have continued over the past few days the discussions between Atlantia and the Cdp to define the memorandum of understanding. In the latest counter-proposal sent by Atlantia, the company proposed a multi-stage operation starting from the capital increase with entry of Cdp, sale of a 22% package to institutional shareholders and subsequent spin-off of Aspi from Atlantia and listing on the Stock Exchange . A different scheme from the proposal sent the week before by CDP, which provided for demerger, listing and capital increase at the price of the IPO.
But both versions (the government/Benetton agreement and all-market operation) international investors did not like them, nor to the historical ones (Allianz and Silk Road FUnd) nor to those potentially interested in entering the capital of ASPI. And not even the TCI Fund always on a war footing. The reason? The market quotation in such a negative phase could express too low a value for the asset. And then we return to the initial plan, albeit with all the unknowns of the case. How agitated the waters of Polcevera are.
